I Love You, Barry Allen
by aquarterasian
Summary: Iris's thoughts during Barry's 9 month coma.


"I just have to clean my lab real quick, I'll see you tomorrow." Barry smiled when he walked back into the station. I began to walk home, and I could hear the distant rumble of thunder. _I wonder if this will affect the accelerator at all. _As soon as that thought came into my mind, the rain started pouring, deciding it would be easier to run back to the station, I turned around and ran. Almost as soon as I was in front of the station, there was a giant bolt of lightning, right above Barry's lab. I could hear the shattering of glass.

"Barry!" I knew something had happened to him, I just knew it. I ran into his lab and found my best friend laying limply on a fallen shelf. "Oh my god, Barry!" In a panic I dialed 911. As soon I finished the call, I grabbed Barry's hand.

"You're going to be okay Barry. You can't die on me now." I sobbed into his chest. It seemed like hours before the ambulance finally arrived. I rode with him to the hospital, but they pushed me back when he went into surgery. I sat blankly in the waiting room, when I realized my dad was probably worried about me. I took out my phone and called him.

"Iris? Where the hell are you? Are you okay?" I was bombarded with questions as soon as he answered.

"Dad, I'm sorry I didn't call you. I just…" I couldn't finish, and I collapsed into sobs.

"Where are you?" He asked in a calmer tone.

"The h-hospital" I hiccupped, I barely managed to get it out.

"I'll be right there" he said as he hung up. I continued to sit in the waiting room, trying to control my sobs. As soon as my dad walked in, I jumped up and hugged him, crying into his arm.

"What happened?" He asked, looking me in the eye.

"Its Barry, he was struck by lightning. I don't know what happened, I just found him lying there." As soon as I said the words, it occurred to me that he might not make it. "What if he doesn't make it dad? What if…"

"Iris, you can't think that way. Barry is strong, I'm sure he'll pull through." He tried to reassure me, but I just kept going to the worst case scenario in my head. A few minutes later, a nurse came in.

"Are you the family of Bartholomew Allen?" she asked me and my dad. He nodded. I braced myself for the worst. _We couldn't save him. He didn't make it. It's surprising he held on as long as he did._

The nurse sighed. "He's currently comatose, it is unclear how long he will be that way, or if he will even wake up. But if you would like, you can come see him." We followed the nurse into his room. He was just lying there, he looked peaceful, as if he had just laid down for a quick nap. I almost let myself believe it too. But then, there was a power outage in the hospital, and there was a flurry of nurses coming to Barry's aid. His heart had stopped, and so did mine. In that moment, I realized just how much Barry meant to me, and how much I would hurt if I lost him. _I love you, Barry Allen, please don't leave me. _Luckily the doctors were able to restart his heart, but this would not be the last time.

* * *

"Hey Barry, it's been a month, don't you think it's been long enough?" I was sitting by his hospital bed, as I have been doing almost every day since he's been in a coma. It's not like I expected any response from him. But I will never let go of the hope that someday, sooner rather than later would be nice, he would open his eyes, probably make a joke about how he got in this state, and we would laugh. But his heart had stopped so many times, and every time the power mysteriously went out. Almost every time I came to see him, I brought a comic book for him, there was already a fairly big pile, and I don't know why I keep bringing them, he's not going to be able to read them.

"You know that pretty boy officer that we talked about just a few hours before your accident? He offered to take over for dad so he can be with you. I should do something to pay him back later. What do you think?" I sighed. "Why won't you answer me? Please Barry, just open your eyes." But nothing happened, not even a twitch. I stayed for a few more hours, working on a paper for journalism, _which, by the way Barry Allen, is not as fun as you said it would be._ Finally I decided that I'd stayed long enough, I kissed Barry on the forehead. _One last chance to wake up today. _I lingered for a few seconds.

"I promise I'll be back tomorrow." And I left the hospital.

* * *

"2 months Barry Allen." I scolded the comatose man. "It's so lonely without you, and really quiet around the house. Hell, you would have thought you still lived at home, you're always at the house." Dad laughed.

"Give him a chance Iris." I smiled. _It'll be like that again soon, won't it Barry. _

"Dad?" I asked.

"Hmm?" He replied without looking up from the case he was working on.

"Promise me you won't let them pull the plug on him." I said. I could feel the tears brimming my eyes. "He's going to wake up." Dad walked over to me and pulled me into a hug.

"I promise, you and I both know Barry wouldn't give up without a fight. And he is definitely fighting with everything he's got." I smiled and nodded.

"I'm going to get some coffee, want anything?" I asked him. Dad nodded.

I walked to the little café on the bottom floor of the hospital. As I was paying, the lights went out, and I knew exactly what that meant. _Don't do this to me Barry. _I thought to myself as I ran back to his room, by the time I got there, the problem was resolved, and Barry was stable again. I nearly cried from relief. Dad looked relieved too, after all, Barry was like a son to him. That's when I realized, Henry didn't know. No one had told him what happened to Barry.

"I'm going to see Henry" I said, already walking out the door.

"No Iris-"

"He deserves to know what happened to his son, why he hasn't been visiting lately. And I'm going to tell him whether you like or not." Dad sighed, and gave up, allowing me to go.

"I'll take care of Barry" He said, I nodded.

I waited for Henry by the phone. I saw him walk in, and waved nervously.

"Hi, Henry." I said, this was the first time I'd seen him in a while. I would occasionally go with Barry to see him, but I hadn't been able to lately.

"To what do I owe this pleasure, Iris?" He said, and he genuinely seemed happy to see me.

"I just came to tell you why Barry hasn't been here in a while. I felt like you deserved to know." I sighed because no one ever wants to be the one to tell a parent that there child has been severely injured.

"What happened to my son?" He asked, worried. "He's not…?"

"No! No, about 2 months ago, when the particle accelerator went on, I'm sure he told you about it, well there was a storm. Barry was in his lab, and… and" she took a deep breath to keep herself from crying "well, he was struck by lightning, and he's been in a coma ever since."

"Is he going to be alright?" He asked, and I could tell, although he tried not to show it, he was emotionally drained. He'd been through so much in such a short amount of time. But Iris couldn't lie to him and tell him everything was going to be alright.

"I-I don't know. His heart keeps stopping, but I think Barry will pull through." I said with a small smile. "But I promise to let you know if anything changes."

"Thank you, Iris." He smiled, and I could see the tears in his eyes. "Take care of him for me. And Joe." Iris nodded and stood up.

"It was nice seeing you, despite the circumstances." I hung up the phone and walked out.

* * *

3 months. That's how long my best friend has been in a coma. 3 months since I've heard his laugh, or seen his smile. 3 months.

"Hey Barry. I just realized that I forgot to mention that a friend called you. Actually, she called you a few months ago. Her name was Felicity she said. Is that who you were talking about when you were telling me you were thinking about romance?" I looked at his motionless face. I sighed, no response. _Don't know what I expected. _"Well, I've found a little bit of romance recently. You know that pretty boy cop? Yeah, him. His name is Eddie, and he's actually really nice." I don't know why, but I sometimes feel a little guilty for being in a relationship while Barry's in a coma. It's not like I'm cheating on him, or anything.

I got out my journalism homework. _I can't believe he talked me into taking this class. _Nothing really interests me right now. Not while Barry is still like this, but it's just not the same doing anything without him. I stayed for a few more hours until my dad came to look after Barry.

"See you soon, Barry." I whispered as I walked out.

* * *

Month Four. How can someone sleep for 4 months? _Barry Allen, your nap has been long enough, I really just need to see you smile. _

"Apparently Miss Smoak came to visit you a few days ago. I think she likes you. What kind of person hops on a train and goes for miles to see someone they don't like? I would love to meet her someday, but I guess we just always seem to miss each other. Anyways, I really miss you." I sighed. Barry was still here, but I kept feeling like I could lose him any day. And that scares me, a lot. His heart keeps stopping, and I'm always afraid on of these days, they won't be able to bring him back. My dad walked in after about an hour or so, and we talked for a little while. A few minutes later, a man in a wheelchair walked in.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Harrison Wells, and I would like to talk to you about transferring Barry to STAR Labs."

"Why would we agree to that, your machine is what caused all this!" I couldn't stop myself before I said it.

"Iris, let's hear him out." Dad said. Dr. Wells remained calm in his response.

"You see, I believe that Barry is a very special patient. I don't believe that his heart keeps on stopping, I believe that that is a misdiagnosis. I believe that his heart is beating too fast for the machines to register."

"So you want to experiment on him." I stated.

"No, Miss West, I only wish to make sure that Mr. Allen here receives the proper care, and we can give that to him at STAR Labs. We are willing to do it at no cost to you."

"We'll still be able to visit him?" Dad asked, good question actually.

"Of course." I didn't like it, but we couldn't pay Barry's medical bills forever.

"Then I don't see why not." Dad said, and I nodded.

"Excellent we'll have him moved to STAR labs in a few days."

* * *

"Hey Bear. You are in a new place now, don't know if you noticed. Anyways, I still don't know exactly what to think of Dr. Wells, but Cisco and Caitlin seem nice." I said. _It's been 5 months Barry. When are you going to come back to me? _I took a sip of the coffee I brought.

Today I brought a book with me to read. I read it aloud because I didn't get it, but I'm sure Barry would. _I wonder if he can hear me reading to him._

I didn't stay long today because of work. After about 2 months, I had finally decided to go back to work. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't be by his side all the time.

"Time to go to work, see ya Barry. Oh! I also have a date with Eddie tonight, did I ever tell you that was his name? Wish me luck!" I said, and I squeezed his hand and left.

* * *

"Happy birthday Barry! I can't believe your sleeping through your own birthday." Month 6.

"I know, the smell of cake and ice cream would wake me up, for sure." Cisco stated. I laughed. Caitlin didn't.

"You wouldn't be able to smell anything if you were comatose." She said. It wasn't in a rude way, just a, 'I really don't feel like making any jokes, or hearing any. Ever.' Thing.

"I got you a book, it's about lightning strikes. Ha, funny right?" He didn't laugh, he hasn't laughed in 6 months. _You would've laughed._ I thought sadly.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he'll be up and running soon." Cisco tried to reassure me.

"He should have been up and running 6 months ago." I snapped at him. I sighed. "I'm sorry, I've just been stressed lately, and I really miss him." Cisco nodded. "I should go, I have a date tonight." I smiled, gathered my things. I went up to Barry and whispered in his ear.

"Happy Birthday, you dork." I allowed a single tear to fall, and then I left.

* * *

"Alright Barry Allen, if you didn't want to wake up for your birthday, you could at least wake up for mine. Seriously, it's been 7 months now." I just wish that he would sit up and say-

"Happy Birthday Iris!" I heard Cisco walk in.

"How did you…?" I asked, confused.

"Your dad told me. I didn't know what to get you, so I just brought a delicious cupcake." He said handing me his present. I laughed.

"Thank you, it means a lot." I smiled. "I just thought I come check on him before I went off to work. I actually have an assignment due soon, so I might not be able to stop by for a couple of days. My dad's working a case, so he won't either. Just let us know if anything changes."

"Absolutely." Cisco smiled as I walked out. So did Caitlin, but it didn't reach her eyes.

* * *

8 months in a coma and Barry Allen was still showing no signs of ever waking up. I was beginning to lose hope, but hope was all I had, so I kept what little I had left of it close.

"So Cisco, you were, attacked?" I questioned, I heard about it from my Dad.

"Sort of, chased. But we got it all figured out. Don't worry." I reluctantly agreed. "Felicity was here a couple days ago too. Wanted to see how Barry was doing."

"Really? I don't understand why I haven't met her. We always just miss each other." I looked at my phone and saw what time it was. "Sorry, gotta go, Eddie and I are going to a movie. If Barry wakes up, give him a slap for taking so long from me."

"You got it." He laughed.

* * *

Today marks 9 months since I've seen Barry Allen smile, laugh, anything really. I felt bad because I haven't been able to stop by and see him in a few days. But work has really been busy, and I had to make up for the time I missed somehow. I leaned down to give a customer a refill, and when I looked back up I was sure I was hallucinating for a couple of seconds. But it was real, and I couldn't be happier. Part of me wanted to slap him for taking so long, and part of me wanted to wrap him in a giant hug. I opted for the latter.

"Oh my god." I whispered as I ran up to him. I wrapped my arms around him, and I felt his wrap around me. It felt so warm. And just being here, in the arms of my best friend, made those 9 months that I waited all worth it. _I love you Barry Allen. _


End file.
